Stockholm Science City Foundation: Hagastaden

Stockholm is cranking up the volume when it comes to life
science opportunities. For healthcare, for the life science industry and for
researchers. But most importantly – for you and me as future or current care
recipients.

The city is currently in the process of transforming a
former railway depot into a flourishing life science arena. The area is
strategically located in the city of Stockholm within walking distance of
academic institutions such as Karolinska Institute, the Royal Institute of
Technology (KTH ), Stockholm University, Stockholm School of Economics and the
Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab). In addition, this new part of the
city, named Hagastaden, will bridge the adjacent cities of Stockholm and Solna,
where Karolinska Institute along with a large number of life science companies
are located, and is built over two major highways. All this will pave way for a
new city district with residential areas, parks, culture, commercial spaces
with a focus on life science, and the brand new Karolinska University Hospital.

The location, ease of communication and collaborative
environment, has already attracted authorities to Hagastaden, which is today home
of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the Public
Health Agency of Sweden, the Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment
and Assessment of Social Services, and the Swedish eHealth Agency.

Well, all this sounds great, but haven’t we heard this story
before? Major investments (seven billion euros to be specific), major
infrastructural improvements and enthusiastic politicians. What is unique in
Stockholm and why is this project happening now?

First of all, the baseline: Hagastaden is not emerging from
empty facilities and high expectations. We are starting in a region where some
700 life science companies are situated, whereof 75 are located in the middle
of Hagastaden. Secondly, Sweden has a long-standing history and good reputation
in collaborative science, which have resulted in healthcare blockbusters such
as the proton pump inhibitor omeprazole, in medtech devices such as the Gamma
Knife® and the pacemaker.

As an increasing share of pharmaceutical research and development
moves into biological medicines, the Stockholm region is gaining power within
this field. Strong positions in the field of protein research as well as
production of biopharmaceuticals have generated a strong industry for Sweden ever
since Arne Tiselius and Theodor Svedberg won the Nobel Prize almost a century
ago (Norrby 2010). In 2015, the Stockholm region’s exceptional competence and
know-how have attracted a number of investments, both nationally and internationally.
Placing hopes and investments in Hagastaden and the greater Stockholm region is
not a coincidence.

In May 2015, AstraZeneca announced plans to invest approximately
285 million dollars into a new hi-tech facility for manufacturing of biological
medicines in their site south of Stockholm. The new facility will supply
medicines for clinical trial programmes of AstraZeneca and MedImmune from the end
of 2018, and will deliver finished products for commercial use once fully
operational by 2019.

In December 2015, GE Healthcare Life Sciences announced a
100-million-dollar investment in its facility in Uppsala, a city in the
Stockholm region, to double manufacturing capacity for chromatography media.
Today, GE Healthcare's Uppsala facility produces 250 different types of
chromatography media, which are used in the purification of more than 90
percent of all biopharmaceuticals approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration.

Only a week later, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Sweden’s
largest private research funding body, along with AstraZeneca and three Swedish
universities, declared that they would invest 55 million dollars into a protein
research centre focusing on mapping proteins, which are secreted by cells and
identifying new protein-based targets for compound development, as well as
developing new methods for production of therapeutic proteins. Simultaneously,
the Swedish government is to provide another 35 million dollars for open calls
within protein research and development of biological therapeutics.

These investments (475 million dollars in total) are proof
of the region’s strength within protein research and manufacturing of
biopharmaceuticals and will also secure Stockholm’s future position within the
field of life science in general and protein science in particular.

Hagastaden is already a hotspot in this context, and with ongoing
development it will be the place for highly specialised healthcare and the
workplace for some 50,000 people. It will also be home for even more people as
6,000 new flats are to be built, and a place for culture and recreation for
many. The corner pillars of Hagastaden are based on healthcare, industry,
academia and city residents. It will be a flourishing part of our capital
pulsing with life 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In 2025, Hagastaden will
be fully developed, but who knows, maybe the next Svedberg or Tiselius is
already here?